Apparatus for automatically filling and discharging filter-beds.



, u. 648,325. Patented Alm-24,1900.

s. u. ADAMS.

APPARATUS FDR AUTDIIATICALLV FILLING AND DISGHABGINE FILTER BEDS.

(Ammann man oe. 1s, xeno.)

2 Shents--Sheet l.

(lo odel.)

Wzl-nes ses Y No. 648,325. Patented Apr. 24, 1900.

S. H. DAMS. v APPARATUS F03 AUTUIATIGALLY FILLING MID DISGI'IAIISIIIG FILTER BEDS.

(Application medoc-r. 1s, 1899.) (Ila lpdal.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

UNITED STATES i PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL HENRY ADAMS, OF HARRO-GATE, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY FILLING ANDDISCHARGING FILTER-BEDS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 648,325, dated April 24, 1900. Apguauon nea amber 1s, 1899. serai No. 733,520. on man.)

To all zoll/0171, it may cow/cerro:

Beit known that I, SAMUEL HENRY ADAMS, a subject of the Queen-of Great Britain, residing at Cumbrae, Park avenue, Harrogate, in the county of York, England,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for the Automatic Filling and Discharging of Filter Beds and Tanks, of which the following is a specification.

In cases where what are called bacterial or other similar filter-beds are used for the purifying of liq uid it is customary to provide a 'series of such beds or filters, and having first filled one the liquid is allowed to stand therein in contact with the filtering medium, the supply meanwhile being tu rned to another filterbed, and so on until all have been filled. The contents of the beds first lled after having stood any desired length of time are discharged to another bed at a lower level for more perfect filtration or to the outfall, and the beds are then allowed to stand empty for a time for aeration before being again flooded with liquid. It is evident that if these operations are controlled by band the continual vigilance of an attendant is required.

The object of my invention is to provide apparatus which will do what is required automatically and with few or no moving parts; and for the purpose of my invention I provide in a channel or in a scum or collecting tank, from which any desired number of flter-beds draw their supply, a feed apparatus for each of any desired number of filter-beds to supply these beds, this feed apparatus being constructed somewhat as a Siphon-trap having a deep seal, and in combination with `the said feed apparatus I provide means forintroducing air automatically therein to stop the fioW of liquid through it and for automatically releasing the air again to allow the liquid to resume its fiow.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a sectional perspective view of two filter-beds and a feed-channel or collecting-tank, together with feed and discharging apparatus constructedv according to my invention; and Figs. 2 and 3 are sectional views illustrating modified forms of feed apparatus.

Like letters of reference denote corresponding parts in the several figures.

A is the collecting tank or channel; B B, the

fi1ter-beds, also designated No. l and No. 2; C C, the feed apparatus for conducting the liquid from the tank A to the filter-beds B, and M M the apparatus for discharging the contents of the filter-beds and for delivering the same to other filter-beds at a lower level or to the outfall.

Each feed apparatus C, Fig. 1, is constructed with passages of substantially-rectan gular section, a being the inlet, b the outlet, and c a deep trap, formed in said apparatus by a division-plate c', extending from the top wall of the apparatus nearly to the bottom wall, and by a similar plate c2, extending from the bottom Wall nearly to the top. The liquid passes over the edge of the plate c2, then uuder the edge of the plate c', and then out by the outlet b.

Within each filter-bed is placed a chamber f, closed at the top and open at the bottom and f communicating, by means of a pipe, g with the interior' of the corresponding feed apparatus C, said pipe preferably dipping into the water seal of the said apparatus. fhen in operation, the liquid flowing through the feed apparatus follows the course indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1 and passes into the filterbed, the level of the liquid rising around the chamber f, whereupon the air in the said chamber is displaced by the liquid and transferred through the pipe g to the interior of the feed apparatus, where it operates to depress the level of the liquid in said apparatus below the edge of the plate c2, thus stopping the fiow of liquid through it. Further flow through the feed apparatus cannot take place until the air therein is released and as the pipe g dips into the liquid seal in the feed apparatus the air cannot return by the sald pipe g, so that the-discharge of the contents of the filter-bed will not start the fiow of liquid thro ugh its feed apparatus, and therefore special provision must be made for liberating the air which has been confined as above described. For this purpose I provide in the adjacent filter-bed a chamber f', similar to the chamber f' above described, and communicating, by means of a pipe g', with the feed apparatus C, said pipe dipping into the seal of the feed apparatus. It will thus be seen that two pipes enter the seal of the feed apparatus, one communicating with the cl1am- ICO . ber f in the filter-bed fed by said apparatus and the other communicating with a similar chamber f' in the adjacent filter-bed. The' actionis as follows-that is to say, assuming the flow of liquid to No. 1 filter-bed has been stopped by the air passed into the feed apparains of said bed from the corresponding chamber f and that' the flow is transferred to No. 2 bed, the level of the liquid in the latter filter-bed rises and transfers air from its chamber f' through the pipe g' into the feed apparatus of No. 1 .filter-bed in lsullicient quantity to force the liquid sealof said apparatus and so release the air, whereupon the liquid will then resume its flow through said apparatus.. Should the sectional area of the thoroughfares in the feed apparatus be too large to admit of vthe forcing of the seal by the air passed therein, as above described, I may provide a small vent-pipe j, communieating with said apparatus and open at'the l top. When the additional air is passed into the feed apparatus, the excess of pressure forces the liquid out of the pipe j, and the air following such expulsion immediately relieves the pressure within the feed apparatus and allows. the liquid to resume its flow.`

In this way by arranging two filter-beds as shown in Fig. 1 and placing the chamber f in No. 1 filter-bed in communication wil-h the feed apparatus ofv No. 2 filter-bed and the chamber f in No. 2 filter-bed in communication with the feed apparatus of No. 1 filterbed the rising of the liquid in one filter-bed causes the liquid to resume its flow through the feed apparatus of the other filter-bed, and so the filter-beds become charged alternately.

The same principle can of course be extended to any number of filter-beds in series. The same or similar apparatus can also he used for discharging the filter-beds; but I generally prefer the following special arrangement for discharging-that is to say, a siphon M, placed in a ldivision R of the main filter-bed, formed by a partition P. The said siphon has in this instance a deep seal N and an arm or extension-pipe O, which passes over or through the partition P into the filter-bed.

In the partition Pis an opening fitted with a cock or valve Q. In operation, the filter bed or tank being filled to the normal level and the supply having ceased, liquid will pass through thecock Q at a ratev depending on the size of the opening, into the division R, around the siphon M, and mounting gradually higher will ultimately bring this siphon into operation, whereupon not only the contents of the chamber R, butalso those of the filterbed', will be drawn off. The time taken .for suicient liquid to pass through the cock Q to start the siphon M will be the time during which the liquid will stand upon the illter bed or tank, andv by suitably varying the exytent of the opening of the cock Q the time during which liquid will thus stand in the lilter-bed may be regulated as desired. It is evident that any other type of siphon will answer the same purpose, provided that it has this arm or pipe O extending into the filter-bed.

In some instances a simple opening in the partition P may be used instead of a cock. I prefer to employ, in combination with the siphon M, a vent-pipe T, dipping into the liquid in a trap U, which communicates with the interior of the siphon through anopening V. 'lhe pressure within the siphon causes liquid to ascend in the pipe T, which only dips in to the liquid so far that when air bursts through this seal up the pipe T the column of liquid in the pipe is of less height than that in the trap N. The air will therefore eventually escape through` the pipe T and not through the trap N, andsiphonic action will commence. When the liquid has been drawn 0E down to the bottom, the air entering through this pipe will break siphonic a c tion. By this means I dispense with an alrhole or other means for regulating the amount of air shut in the siphon. The vent-pipe 'l is very useful forlarge si phons but for smaller siphons it may be dispensed with. y

' In Fig. 2 I show a modified form of feed apparatus by which the need of the additional air vessel f is dispensed with. In this construction ilie outlet b of the feed apparatus is turned down, as indicated, so that when the liquid rises in the filter-bed it seals the mouth b, and the air locked in by the rising liquid passes through the pipe y to the interior of the feed apparatus, between the plates c and o2, and operates to depress the level of the liquid below the edge of `the plate c2 and stops the flow through the feed apparatus until the air is allowed to escape, as before described. Y

The feed apparatus shown in Fig. 3'has circular passages instead of rectangular; but the action is the same as above described ywith reference to Fig. 1. l I sometimes provide a ball-tap h on the apparatus C for the purpose of automatically releasing the air in said apparatus should the IOC ioS

channel or feed-tank A become too full from any cause and so maintaining the ilow through the feed apparatus.

WVliat I claim is- 1.. The combination,with a filter-bed, of apparatus for passing liquid thereto, a liquid seal in said apparatus, and means for introducing air into the apparatus for the purpose of depressing the level of the liquid therein and so preventing further flow, substantially as described.

2. The combination,with a filter-bed, of apparatus for passing liquid thereto, a liquid seal in said apparatus and means controlled by the Vrising of the level of liquid in the filterbed for the purpose of introducing air into the apparatus, substantially as, and for the purpose, described.

3. The combinatiomwith a filter-bed, of apparatus for passing liquid thereto, a liquid seal in said apparatus, a chamber open at the I i said apparatus, substantially as, and for the bottom within the lter-bed, and a pipe forming a communication between said chamber and said apparatus for introducing air from the said chamber to the apparatus between the seal and the entering liquid entering the apparatus, substantially as, and for the purpose, described.

4. The combination,with a filter-bed, of aplparatus for passing liquid thereto, a liquid seal in said apparatus, a chamber within the filter-bed open at the bottom and communieating by a pipe with the said apparatus for the purpose of introducing air into the seal, another iilter-bed, and means for introducing air from said other filter-bed into the aforepurpose specified. v

5. The combination,with a filter-bed, of apparatus for passing liquid thereto, a liquid seal in said apparatus, means for introducing air from a chamber in the ilter-b`ed to the said apparatus, another lter-bed, ineansjfor 4 introducing air from a chamber insaid other filter-bed into the said apparatus, and means for automatically releasing the' air from said apparatus when the feed chamber or tank isL too Afull, substantially as described.

G. Thecombination, with a iilterbed,`of ap'- paratus for passing liquid thereto, ,a liquid seal in said apparatus, a vent-pipe in said ap- Aparatus, means for'introducing air from the iilter-bed into the said seal, another filter-bed, :and meansv for introducing air -from-Y a reccp` `tacle in said other filter-bed into theapparatus, for the purpose of discharging the liquid from the said vent-pipe and so liberating the confined air, substantially as, and for the purpose, described.

7. The combination, with a filter-bed, of apparatus for discharging the contents thereof, said apparatus comprising a Siphon placed in Aa chamber adjacent to the filter-bed, an elbow-pipe passing. from the dome oi the siphon into the filter-bed, and an aperture for allowing the liquid to iiow from the filter-bed into I phon, and a vent-pipedipping` into said seal, .Y

substantially as described.

9. The combination, with a filter-bed, of apparatus forldischarging the contents thereof, said apparatus consisting of a deep trap-siphon placed in a division of the filter-bed, an elbow-pipe passing from the dome of the siphon into the filter-bed, an aperture for allowing the liquid to flow from the .filter-bed into the division or compartment containing the siphon, a valve or cock for controlling said aperture, a liquid seal in the siphoncompartment and communicating with the interior of the siphon, and a-Vent-pipe dippi ng into said seal, substantially'as described.

10. The combination,with a lterbed,of apparatus for feeding liq'uid to said bed, a liquid seal insaid apparatus,the mouth of the apparatus' vbeing turned dow'n so as to be covered when the-liquid rises in the filter-bed, and a pipe forming a communication between the outlet end of the apparatus and the seal aforesaid, subst-antialb1 as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL HENRY ADAMS.

Witnesses: l

GEORGE WILLIAM CURRY, HERBERT LAWSON. 

